Friends.

Some friends come and go.  I have a friend who has been a constant in my life for the last 13 years.  She has been a part of my life almost as long as my husband.  We have been there for each other through everything.  Eight babies, several moves, new jobs, good days and bad days.

Krysta came this last weekend to hang out with me and my family.  It was so fun to have her here.

I was so excited seeing her red suitcase in my house.  What a blessing it is to have a soul sister. 

Normally, we take a whole bunch of pictures.  This time we took a few with our phones.  OH. MY. GOODNESS.  what are these two photographers thinking? 

It has been almost a year since we were together.  Probably the longest we have gone without seeing each other.  We were just savoring the moments.

We spent most of the weekend at home.  That’s what Best Friends do when they just need to catch up.

Here is a few fun moments spent together; some pics taken with my phone some with Krysta’s.

Eastern Market.  This is where I buy all my produce.  It is one of my favorite parts about living in the East.  I love buying my produce from local farmers.  It is fun to see the Mennonite and Amish people working there.

Krysta and I even ate lunch there; a first for me.  Homemade chicken pot pie.  YUM!!!

We made homemade funnel cake for a treat.  Krysta and I love food.  That is one of my favorite things about here.  I know she will always go back for seconds with me.  We also love treats.  A homemade treat is a must when we are together.

Krysta took our family photos.  Thanks girl.  I love them.  Once I edit them, I will be sharing them so stay tuned.

We watched movies and got caught up on our favorite show.  A love that we both share.  I won’t go in to details, but it does have a couple cute actors in it. Who may or may not be Vampires.

…and then we said goodbye.  I miss you girl.  Can’t wait to come your way.

Thanks for the great week, and the reminder why I love you so much.

Our week with Grandma and Grandpa

We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa.

They came all the way from Utah to see us.

We had a very busy week already planned, so they just joined in with the Swenson crazy.

Here are a few things we did(via iphone pics and my camera):

We took them to PerryDell farm.

 

A working Dairy farm, that supports four families.

They have a bottling plant also.

 

This is where we are buying our milk. I love knowing it comes straight from the farm, and oh so fresh.  YUMMY!!  The have delicious chocolate milk.

Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed making dipped pretzels with the kids.  We used them to “BOO” a few families.

The kids had their class Halloween parties at school.

Grandma went and helped me out.  I organized Stella’s party, and helped plan Isaac’s.

Lorene helped me make some of the treats.

Witchy brooms and sugar cookies.  Stella’s class decorated their own cookies.  Isaac’s class just ate the ones I decorated.

The kids also had a dance-a-thon at school. This is a big fundraiser for our school.

We enjoyed watching them dance.  I love how happy Isaac looks in these pictures.

Stella was having so much fun with her friends singing along to “You don’t know your beautiful.”  I got so much joy out of watching how she has just settled in to this new place.

Jex goes to a different school.  His party will be this week, if Hurricane Sandi cooperates.(pray for us here in PA)

Grandma and Grandpa even watched the kids so that Jonathan and I could go to a concert.  Our favorite Arkansan, Justin Moore was here in PA; and we were front row.  It was a blast!!

It was great for me to see him on October 23rd.  My Grandpa Fred died one year ago on October 22nd.  We used Justin’s song, “If Heaven wasn’t so Far Away,” at his funeral.  It was nice to hear it acoustic and live.  A good reminder of a man who lived a good life, and who is missed dearly.

We hosted our own little Halloween party.

We started with a spooky dinner.  The kids thought this was awesome to eat in the dark.

Grandma made some owl rolls with the kids to go with our dinner.

Then the kids colored haunted houses, and also did some fingerprint art that Grandma introduced them too.

We ended the night with a movie.

…and we can’t forget someone had a birthday.

A few other things that I don’t have pictures for:

Dinner out just the four of us at my favorite place; Crimson Grill.  Mmm.  My mouth is watering just thinking about their pasta.

 Jerald and Jonathan went golfing. Jonathan shot a 72 and was thrilled. Wait to go lover boy.

Jonathan took his parents to Gettysburg and Lancaster(I stayed behind to get kids off the bus)

A little shopping for Lorene and I at a few of my favorite PA shops.  I got a good chunk of my Christmas shopping done.  I even wrapped some of them and sent them on to Utah with her, for our fabulous Utah cousins.

Eastern Market(a huge indoor farmer’s market where I buy a big chunk of our groceries), they thought this was really neat.

Watching a lot of baseball(I am still upset my Cardinals lost the pennant.)

…and then it was time to say goodbye.  Which is never fun for anyone.

Isaac even sent Grandma home with The Kissing Hand.  A favorite memento from a favorite book of ours.

 

Thanks for a great week.  We miss you already.

I love visitors.  Speaking of my BFF comes this week.  I can’t wait.  I haven’t seen her in almost a year. It’s time.  Hurry up Krysta.

Hot Springs Arkansas

My parents recently came for a visit.  While I was staying with them in Utah, my dad told me that they were coming to Arkansas for the food.  The pressure was on to either cook really good, or to find some great restaurants. (I let the restaurants do the cooking.)

I also wanted to do something fun with them while they were here.  I remembered that Hot Springs had some interesting history, and attractions.  We decided to take the 40 minute drive to Hot Springs. 

Before we left, I called my friend Marji to ask her a recommendation to a restaurant.  She suggested a couple, and so we decided we would pick one once we got there.  Marji grew up in Arkansas, and loves good food as much as my family.  I knew she would have some good suggestions, and I totally trusted her.

Once we got to Hot Springs, we were immediately drawn to this hotel.  It is so awesome inside.  I remembered my friend telling me that she had her reception there for her wedding.  She also went on to tell me that they stayed for their Honeymoon night.  I replied, “uh-huh.”  Thinking to myself, “what is the Arlington, and what is all the hype?”  Now I know.  It is awesome.  I want to stay there one night before we leave Arkansas.

 

Just down from the Arlington, is what is called bath house row.  Hot Springs is known for their Hot Springs.  Imagine that.  At one time, people believed the water to have healing powers.  People came from all over to bath in the healing water.  That facilitated the need for bath houses.  There are still a few bath houses that operate today, and several that you could tour.

All of the buildings are awesome on the outside.

This one was so cool on the inside.

I can only imagine how important you had to feel to walk in to one of these buildings, and use their healing waters.  This was something that the elite did.  Including a few well-known Gangsters.

 

I loved all the beautiful trees that lined the streets.  I think I just found my next photo shoot location.

 

Isaac and Tess enjoyed the tour, and just hanging out with grandma and grandpa.  They were shocked when they touched the water, and it was HOT!  …and I mean really hot.

 

After our nice walk, we decided to hit the restaurant that Marji suggested.  We picked Cajun Boilers.  When we pulled up, I got a little nervous.  Then my dad pointed out all the fancy Cadillac's in the parking lot and we decided that it must be ok.

…and it was.  It was delicious and so reasonable. 

My parents loved it so much, that we decided to go back. 

On our second trip, we pulled the kids out of school.  We really wanted to take them to ride the duck tour.  Duck’s are the old vehicles that the army used.  They are land and water vehicles.  We were able to hear more about Hot Springs history, and then see some of the beautiful houses on Lake Hamilton up close and personal.  The duck took us right down in to the water.  The kids thought that was awesome.  Of course, I forgot my camera.  What was I thinking?

After the duck tour, we went back to Cajun Boilers for lunch.  What?  When you find something you love you should just stick to it.

We had such a nice time with my parents.  It was fun to have an excuse to visit Hot Springs.

 

I can’t wait to go back.

Scrapbook Pages:

Scrapbook pages made from Shabby Princess-Plentiful pack.  This pack is free.  Find it here.

What was on the menu?

Thanksgiving was such a wonderful day this year.

Dinner was delicious.

What was on the menu you ask?

Turkey

Sweet Potato Souffle’

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Homemade Rolls

Pistachio Pudding

Stuffing

Corn

Pumpkin Pie and Whipping Cream

Pecan Pie Bars and Icecream

YUM!!

The table decorations were so fun and eclectic. (pictures taken by Krysta Moes)

I used a menagerie of dishes.

Complete with a name card and napkin ring.

Krysta helped me set the tables, and snapped the majority of all the pictures. 

It was so nice to have someone here to help with that.

The boys table turned out adorable.

I think the boys enjoyed sitting by themselves.

We enjoyed such a nice relaxing meal.

As we shared what we were thankful for I was amazed as the majority of thankfuls were for Family and Friends.

Isaac however, was thankful for his Mac truck.

I am thankful for a day to reflect on all the blessings we have been given.

I am also thankful for my time spent away from home that has forced me to learn how to cook a turkey and a complete Thanksgiving meal.  This was our 7th Thanksgiving away from home.  It is hard to be away from our family, but I am thankful that I can recreate the feelings I felt as a child in my own home.

What a wonderful tradition we have to celebrate our blessings by preparing the best meal we can make.

Blessings are certainly worth celebrating.

I also love that we only eat this food together once a year.  It makes the meal even more special.

It was fun to share it with the Moes family.

After dinner, we loaded everyone up for a movie.  We saw Tangled; it was adorable.

After the movie, we cleaned up, had dessert and put the kids to bed.

The adults enjoyed some time doing what we love; playing cards.

The whole weekend was so much fun.

I am glad we have a reason to celebrate and good friends to celebrate with.

Stay tuned for Holiday Decorating posts and What I have learned.